Travel writer Jo Kessel filmed the ultimate polar bear cruise aboard Hurtigruten’s 220-passenger expedition ship MS Spitsbergen. The film shows what expedition life is like, with passengers exploring on foot and in inflatable zodiac boats as they scout for wildlife and glaciers. Plus, there’s exclusive footage of Jo being attacked by an Arctic tern, kayaking at the North Pole’s ice edge and finding one very well-fed polar bear.
There are many animals most of us will only ever expect to
The moment the motor turned off, I was hooked.
It was 20 minutes into my first Swedish sailing trip on a blazingly sunny morning in late June. I’d set sail with two friends from their summer house on Kilholmen, a wooded islet in the central archipelago, about an hour by bus (then a five-minute boat ride) from Stockholm. After motoring through a narrow waterway, past smooth, rounded cliffs backed by pine forests and the occasional red timbered cottage, we entered
Jump ship with the next rising wave was the instruction when we arrived at Skuvoy, a tiny Faroe island with 30 inhabitants. But the dramatic cliffs, birds, sheep and a chance to experience village life made it well worth the rough crossing.
After a long walk, it was wonderful to be offered heimablidni (Faroese home dining) in a little stone cottage belonging to Tummas Frank Joensen and his wife Elizabeth, who served us a superb soup made of peaches, cream
